Motor-vehicle.



A. BOUAS. MOTOR VEHICLE. APPLIoATIoN FILED AUG. 2o, 1912.;

Patented July 1,1913.

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A. BoUA's. vMOTOR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1912.

Patented July 1 ,u 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. l l".

A. BOUAS. MOTOR VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2o, 1912.

66,072. Patented July 1, 1913.

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MOTOR-VEHICLE.

T0 all whom i may concern:

Be it known that I, ALrHoNs BoUAs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Co-ulterville, in the county of Randolph and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ll/Iotor-Vehicles, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates tothe means for propelling and steering motor vehicles, and has for its object the provision of means whereby the power will be applied equally to both axles and whereby both axles may be adjusted at an angle to the central longitudinal line of the vehicle in order to cause tho'same to turn corners or round curves.

4The invention also seeks to simplify the 'construction and arrangement of the propelling mechanism of a motor vehicle to the end that t-he durability and efficiency of the same may be increased.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying` drawings and will be hereinafter first fully described and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a motor vehicle equipped with my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation., partly in section, of the parts more directly included ininy improvements; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the axles with the hounds and other parts connected therewith; Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the frame; Fig. 5 is a. detail persl'iective view of the steering wheel and the parts immediately actuated thereby; Fig. G is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectionthrough the suspended gear case; Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the same; Fig. 8 is a detail view showing' the members of the outer universal coupling separated and `in their proper relative positions; Fig. t) is a detail perspective view Aof the hanger by which the body supporting` frame is mounted on the axle frames.

ln carrying out my invention, l` employ front and rear axles 1 which are of the usual -form and are equipped with ground. wheels 2 and gear wheels 3 in the usual manner, said gear Wheels receiving motion from pinions 4 meshing` therewith. Axle frames .5 are fitted upon the axles so as to support bearings 6 in which the axles rotate, and upon the said axle frames holsters 7 are piv- A ota-lly secured, the heads of the pivots or king bolts appearing at 7 in Fig. 2. At

Specification of Letters Patent.

Appncation medaugast 2o, 1912.

Patented July 1, 1913., serial No. 716,091.

Vthe ends of the said bolster-s, I journal hangers S which are provided with crank arms 9 beyond the ends of the bolster-s, said crank arms depending from the holsters and having pivotal connections with the outer lower frame 10, as shown. Springs 11 are secured to the said frame 10, and upon the said springs, l secure the upper frame 12 which supports the engine, indicated conventionally at 13, and the transmission gearing 14 which is driven directly by the engine and' which may be of any preferred type whereby the speed and direction of travel of the vehicle may be controlled. The engine shaft 2 l5 is also jcurnaled upon the said upper frame 12 and may be equipped at one end with a starting' crank 1G of the usual form. The engine shaft 15 is preferably constructed in two sections connected by the transmission gearing, indicated conventionally at 11.1 and upon the rear section of the shaft .s .pivotally hunaa gear case 17 adapted to swing in a vertical plane 'about the said shaft as a center. W'ithin the upper end of the said case and fixed upon the shaft is a pinion 18 which meshes with an intermediate pinion 19 carried by a stubshaft which is journaled in the sides of the case and which in turn meshes with a gear wheel 2() in the lower end of the case and fixed to a short shafty 21 disposed longitudinally of the vehicle and having its front and rear ends connected by gimbal joints to forwardly and rearwardly extending shafts 23 which carry the pinions et meshing with the gear wheels on the axles previously mentioned. The outer ends of the shafts Q3 are journaled. in bearings 2t provided upon fraines 25 which are carried by the hounds 2G extending` from the axle frames 5 whereby the shafts will be supported so as to hold the pinions i constantly in mesh with the `crear wheels The hounds 26 are arranged in pairs@ one pair being;r provided at each side of each shaft 23 and having their rear ends secured to the to) and bottom of the axle frames 5 and their front ends brought together and connected with the `eea r case 17 by universal couplings. These couplings are preferably of the construction illustrated in Figspt and S and consist of sleeves 27'u'pon which are loosely fitted a pair of rings Q8, 29, each provided at diametrieally opposite points with cylindric-al lugs or projections 30. 28, 29 are vfitted upon the sleeve 27, and re- The rings the ring 29 arepivotally fitted in the front ends of the' hounds 26 and are held againstdetachment therefrom' by any preferred means. It will thus be readily seen that the hounds may be rotated about the axis of the sleeve 27 and will'also be permitted to move .laterally with respect to the gear casing by reason of the pivotal connection between the said casing and the sleeve through the inner ring 28. A steering wheel 33 is provided at the front end of the vehicle and this steering wheel is connected through any convenient gearing, such as a worm gear, illustrated at 34, at the lower end of the steering post 35, with a rock shaft 36 which is mounted u on the upper frame 12. The rear end iiis rock shaft 36 is equipped with a crank arm- 37 connected by a link 38 with a pin 39 or equivalent device on the gear case 17.

The construction and arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus being thus made known, it is thought the operation and advantages of the same will be readily understood. The power of the engine will be transmitted through the transmission gearing, indicated at 14, to the pinion 18 which in turn will act through the gear wheel 19 to rotate the gear wheel 20 and thereby actuate the shaft 21 and the shafts 23 connected therewith, the said shafts 23 actuating the pinions Ltand gear wheels 3`to rotate the axles and thereby cause the ground wheels 2 to travel in the usual manner. readily noted that the ,mechanism devised and employed by me positively rotates both axles so that the propelling force is e ually distributed at the ends of the vehicle (irame and consequently the vehicle will be caused to travel more rapidly and easily than with the mechanism commonly used. As the power is thus evenly distributed, the vehicle may be more readily driven over rough and soft roads.

l/Vhen it is desired to turn a corner or round a curve, the steering wheel'33 is properly manipulated so as to rock the shaft 36 and thereby, through the crank arm 37 and the link 38, cause the gear case 17 to oseillate about the engine shaft 15 as a center and consequently swing the shaft -21 to one side of the vertical plane of the driving shaft. Wlien'the lower end of the gear case 17 and the shaft 21 are thu's swung to one side. the

It will be.

gear casing are disposed in the same vertical planes so that the lateral movement of the hounds and of the inner ends of the said shafts will not disengagethe pinions 4 from the gear wheels on the axles, but the axles line of the mawill be positively driven Iwhethcrthey are in parallelism or at an angle to each other. The hangers 8, being pivotally connected with the supporting rame, fully accommodate the swinging. movement of the parts in steering so that there will be no binding between the axle frames and the bolsters or between the bolsters and the supporting frame.

It will be readily noted that I have provided a power mechanism which is composed of few parts and is com actly ar, ranged so that, while the power 1s applied directly to both axles and the steering is accomplished by shifting a portion of the gearing, the number of Joints is not multiplied, andgfconsequently, the mechanism is not apt to get out of order.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. The combination of a pair of axles, axleframes providing bearings therefor, a supporting frame pivotally mounted upon the axle frames,a gear case pivotally suspended on the supporting frame, hounds secured rigidly to the axle frames and having a universal connection `with the gear case, means for vibrating said gear case, andgearing within the gear case connected with the axles to rotatethe same. y

2. .The combination of a pair of axles, axle frames providing bearings for the axles, a supporting frame pivotally mounted upon the axle frames, hounds extendingfrom the axle frames, a vibratory member pivotally attached at its upper end to the frame and connected at its lower end to the inner ends of the hounds, and means for swinging said member .laterally to erti'ect steering. 5 Q

3. The combination of a pair of axles, axle frames providing bearings `therefor, a supporting frame pivotally mounted on the axle frames, hounds extending from theaxle frames, a central tubular member suspended upon the supporting frame, means for vibrating said member transversely of the supporting frame, sleeves within the ends of said tubular member, rings on said sleeve pivoted to the yends of said tubular member,

and other rings on the-said sleeves pivoted I tothe lnner ends of the hounds.

4; The combination of a pair of axles, a supporting frame pivotally connected therewith',-avmotorlon the sup orting frame, a driving shaft extending' fprom said motor, a gear case pivotallyhung on said shaft, a train 0f cluding a shaft projecting through the sides thereof at the lower endof the same, gearing between said shaft. and the axles, connections betweenl the gear case and the axles, and means for vibrating vsaid gear case later all ilThe combination of a pair of axles, pinions on the4 axles, axle frames providing gearmgrwthinsaid gear case in-l bearings for the and below the pinions, a set of hounds converging from the tops and bottoms of the axle frames, a pendulous gear casing between the inner ends of the universal connections between the hounds and the lower end of said casing, a train of gearing within said casing, shafts supported by the hounds and havin their Outer ends geared to the pinions on tie axles, and universal connections between the inner ends of said shafts and the train of gearing.

In testimony whereof I aftix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALPHONS BOUAS. [Ls] Witnesses: JoHN C. Bowen,

THOMAS P. ARMSTRONG.

axles and extending above sets of hounds, 

